Chris Johnson compares himself to LeBron James

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 23, 2012, 8:10 AM EDT

Reuters

Titans running back Chris Johnson sees himself when he watches LeBron James.

Johnson told Jim Rome on Rome that he thought of himself while watching James and the Miami Heat win the NBA championship: Last season James, like Johnson, signed a new contract and took a lot of criticism when he fell short of his goals. This season Johnson says he, like James, plans to prove he’s the best in his sport.

“I feel just like LeBron — a lot of people are going to be back on the bandwagon,” Johnson said. “He had a lot of haters out there, a lot of people saying he wasn’t good and things like that and just to see how he overcame that and came back this year and won the championship, it shows his hard work and dedication.”

Johnson just barely topped 1,000 yards last season, but this season he says he wants to top 2,000 yards, as he did in 2009.

“I feel like a lot of people have written me off,” Johnson said. “I still went over 1,000 yards but it wasn’t a CJ2K year. So a lot of people are going to write me off. . . . I want to be the first one to do it twice, that’s certainly a goal of mine to do. . . . I feel like I’m still the best back in the league. When I ran for 2,000 yards my goal was to be the best player in the league and I still want to be that. In order for my team to make it to the playoffs, make it to the Super Bowl, I’m going to have to be the best.”

Even his harshest critics are recognizing James as the best player in the NBA now. Johnson would have to be a whole lot better this year than he was last year for anyone to even consider calling him the best player in the NFL.

CJ, some day, hopefully not too long from now, you will discover that neither the world or even the Titans revolve around you. “In order for my team to make it to the Super Bowl, I’m going to have to be the best.” What? Wrongo, tiny one.

In fact, the Titans now have much more talent on offense and defense than the team that came within 1 yard of a Super Bowl title in 2000. The primary difference? Those AFC Champions didn’t have a single player on the team with anything resembling your self-importance. That team’s leaders (Steve McNair, Eddie George, Frank Wycheck, Bruce Matthews and Blaine Bishop) all led by how they played–not talked. Every single one of them. Hopefully, you’ll wake up to this before your career is over.

Sorry CJ I live in TN but if McFadden can stay healthy in Oakland hes the best in the league hands down once he got hurt last year he was leading the league in rushing and it took someone 2-3 weeks to pass him.

So Johnson considers himself a dirtbag traitor that doesnt care about the fans???? Why would he admit to that?
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Get over it, bro. The Cleveland Cavaliers have the worst ownership and front office of any professional sports franchise. LeBron played out two contracts for the Cavaliers and gave Dan Gilbert every chance to upgrade the team around him and keep him in Ohio.

LeBron gave Cleveland seven years of his life, but when it became clear that management refused to put effort into building a competitive team, he left for a team that was actually willing to do what it takes to win. When you think about it, the real dirtbag move would have been to stay in Cleveland and keep putting on their futile one man show for a much fatter paycheck than the one he’s receiving now in Miami.

Clearly, he handled his departure poorly. He has acknowledged that on numerous occasions and publicly apologized to the fans in Cleveland. It’s not fair to hate a guy forever based on the stupid way he acted at age 25. Everyone conveniently forgets that Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both forced the small market teams that drafted them to trade them. If James was really such a d-bag, he would have left after his first contract expired or demanded to be traded out of Cleveland.

Point is, get over the LeBron hate. LBJ was Mr. Good Guy for as long as could be humanly expected, but eventually made the same choice anybody else would have made. If the company you work for made it very clear to you that there was no opportunity for advancement within the organization, would you keep wasting your life there, or would you take your talents elsewhere? (South Beach for example)

That would require winning a Super Bowl CJ, and that ain’t happening for the Titans, sorry.
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Maybe not, but there’s always the chance that Forte, Johnson and Rice all take their talents to South Beach.

Jokes aside, that isn’t quite a fair comparison. Due in part to to the difficulty of franchise building and player acquisition in the NFL compared to the NBA, and in part to the much shorter shelf life of NFL players, it’s much easier to be a great football player who never wins a Super Bowl than a great basketball player who never wins a championship.

Chris, LeBron didn’t fall short of his goals. ESPN simply don’t want to let go the whole LeBron saga because of the emotional reaction they are getting from those who want and need someone to hate.

LeBron and the Heat made it to the finals last season and missed out of the trophy by one game. That was his first season on that team.

He spend many years before carrying a team by himself without much help from the management who promised to build a team around him. Folks like Skip Bayless simply want to remain pissed because he said he’s outta here….Hmmmmm.

CJ2K is on my do not draft list for FF, along with V-Jax and D’Angelo Williams.
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covercorner says: Jun 23, 2012 2:09 PM

I begged ESPN Fantasy Football to let me cut this loser from my fantasy football team last season.
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radioactivechimp says: Jun 23, 2012 11:33 AM

I would take Fred Jackson over CJ any day. He’s more consistant and he’s a lot more reliable.
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I’ve always tried to focus on real football instead of fantasy when commenting on PFT, but Chris Johnson is a very interesting prospect this year, precisely because of the attitude expressed in these comments.

In the past CJ has been a top 5 Fantasy prospect, but this year, everyone is really down on him because of his obnoxious attitude and his terrible 2011 campaign. Right now, he says he’s in the best shape of his life. Whether you believe him or not, the widespread dislike of Chris Johnson should drop him into the 16-24 range. If he plays like a 16-24 player, no big loss, but if he can return to form and rush for 2000 yards again, that pick is going to win you your league. A combo like Ray Rice with your first pick and 2009 style CJ2k with your second or third would be unstoppable.

That said, I wouldn’t pass Fred Jackson in round 4 or later, but he is starting to get a little over-the-hill, and is a major injury risk this year. Also, Vincent Jackson is definitely a no-go. The Bucs are probably a team to stay away from this year, fantasy wise. While the team may have some real football potential, fantasy-wise, they’re totally up in the air right now.